


Sand in Places You Wouldn't Believe

by thompsonitis



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Gen, Swearing, but it's only down to their underwear, my attempt at humor, they strip in one part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-22
Updated: 2013-08-22
Packaged: 2017-12-24 08:17:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/937701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thompsonitis/pseuds/thompsonitis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sand isn't always the herald of disaster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sand in Places You Wouldn't Believe

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted on my tumblr. Go to my tumblr if you're interested in seeing more of my work. (I usually post a work on Tumblr first.)
> 
> http://thompsonandco.tumblr.com/tagged/my-writing
> 
> This is also one of my few funnier works. Ha ha ha, whoops.

Washing up on a beach after having crashed into the ocean probably saved his life.

Probably.

Then again, it’s more than likely the thing that saved his sorry ass that day was the dwarf that just so happened to be exploring the snowy beaches.

He would still like to get some water to drink, though. The taste of sand isn’t quite what he’d imagine it to be. He’d also like to know who he is.

\- X -

“How do we make glass again?” Xephos asks. Honeydew scratches his beard.

“Well, you just pop sand into the furnace, and then it turns into glass.” he says. Xephos would raise an eyebrow at how vague his friend is being, but he’s used to it by now. Honeydew hefts the shovel over his shoulder, whistling a tune as he jumps through foliage and through little crevices.

Xephos has some trouble being as quick and nimble as his friend. Then again, he doesn’t really feel used to his body, doesn’t really feel quite like himself. He’s not sure why, but he thinks it might be because of the crash and his amnesia. He blames a lot of things on that, these days.

Honeydew just says that thanks to his amnesia, he’s like a little baby again.

“Hey, Xeph! C’mere,” Honeydew says, standing at the top of the hill.

Xephos pauses for a moment, blinking at his friend. He’s still not used to the nickname, in all honesty. “I’m coming!” he says, and he scrambles the rest of the way up, clumsy and uncertain of his own limbs.

When he gets to the the top, he sees what Honeydew wanted him to see.

Below them is the beach where Xephos woke up; tan mixed with white, sand and snow and icy blue water.

Xephos stares but for the life of him, he can’t find a trace of the gouges in the sand made from his ship. He can’t see the blood that had stained the snow and sand, can’t see he the indents he had left behind when he had dragged his body out of the burning metal container to suck in crisp air.

“Come on, then!” Honeydew exclaims, and he drags Xephos down to make their stumbling way to the beaches. Xephos grins, and he chooses to forget about burning shrapnel.

With a sharp tug, he forgets it all in favour of trying not to fall down the hill.

It’s only fair that he tackles Honeydew into the sand for that. It’s just as fair to receive a snow ball mixed with sand into the face moments later. It’s just as fair when he retaliates.

\- X -

The sun is shining down, bright and hot, like a bonfire during a summer’s day. Xephos is almost tempted to just take off half his clothes and run around like a wild child. Almost.

He couldn’t, of course, because Israphel and his goons are literally coming out of the walls, and he has to help his friends fix this Notch forsaken mess before the world is destroyed.

Usual day, it seems. There always is some quest that they had to do, some people they had to help, these days. Usually, they had to fight for their lives.

Xephos doesn’t enjoy battling. He could do it, yes. He could kill and he could fight and he would do it if his friends needed him. He just doesn’t enjoy it; rather have days of peace with mild danger than fight something threatening the world. It just doesn’t seem right, to him.

He could live without the fight.

Xephos turns to follow Peculier. They need supplies to fix the Wall, and neither he nor Honeydew have any. It’s a bit safer now that the spiders have been killed, but he worries about what will happen when night comes.

Peculier was vague about it, but Xephos can fill in the details well enough.

“Hey! Hey, Xephos!” Honeydew calls. Xephos turns, along with Peculier, to see why Honeydew is yelling. Honeydew waves his shovel once, twice, and with their attention on him, turns to the sand spilling through the breach.

Loudly, he sings. “I’m a dwarf and I’m digging a hole!”

Xephos cracks up, leaning forward like he’s going to collapse, eyes squinting at his best friend and lips pulled back into a large smile.

\- X -

Without any actual plumbing, the first week or so in their attempts to build a jaffa factory are spent ignoring the grime gathering on their skin and the coal dust in their hair. They at least had enough sense to make a loo and sink, limited resources regardless. It wasn’t worth it to go outside at night just to save materials.

Honestly? It’s like the beginnings of Yogcave all over again.

Xephos has had enough.

Unlike Honeydew and Lalna, he hates being dirty. It’s horrible and grimy and generally very unhygienic. It’s also very stupid, considering that a river ran just outside their dormitory.

He needs a bath. And some clean clothes. Mostly the bath, though.

It’s sunrise when he gets up, and when he peers out the door, the monsters are dying in the sun. That’s the uses of living in a flat land like this. Harder for things to hide in the shadows and creep up on you.

He takes his sapphire sword with him to the river anyway, Lalna and Honeydew still snoring away in their beds.

The river is clear of monsters when he gets there, and the water looks clean, sparking under the rising sun. Xephos takes his boots off by the banks and enjoys the feeling of warm sand under his bare feet. He twirls his sword in contemplation, distantly noting the difference in weight and build it had in comparison to his old diamond sword, before placing it gently onto the ground next to where his boots lay, discarded.

He strips off all his clothes but his underwear, then slowly dips a foot into the river. The strangled yelp is quiet enough that only the birds are disturbed. The water is a bit colder than he expected, but it’s not unbearable. He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes and plunges into the water with a leap.

Xephos emerges from the water only moments later, spluttering and shivering slightly. The river is deep enough that it reaches his waist when he stands upright, just enough for him. He wipes the water dripping off his face and pushes his hair back.

He wades closer to his clothes, wiggling his toes in the sand that gathered at the bottom of the river. He takes his trousers and plunges it into the water, making a face at the coal dust the comes off in the water when he scrubs the fabric together. He does the same with his shirt, then finally his coat, and puts all the articles of clothing out on a nearby boulder by the bank of the river to dry.

His fingers are pruned by the time he finally finishes washing up, but he's more or less clean again. He sighs, content, sitting down and carefully keeping his nose and eyes above the water.

“Cannonball!”

Xephos opens his eyes to see a flash of pale skin and ginger hair go into the water before he’s splashed from the resulting wave.

“Honeydew!” he splutters, standing up in surprise. He hears a laugh from behind, and he turns around to see Lalna, chuckling as he took off his shirt.

“I guess we should all wash up?” Lalna says, grinning at Xephos’ bewildered face.

Honeydew emerges from the water, like a whale, only less graceful. There’s more spitting involved.

“Holy _shit_ , this is cold,” he shouts. He wades back to the bank, crawling out of the water and flopping onto the sand. Lalna and Xephos laugh.

Lalna starts taking his belt off, so Xephos averts his eyes, flustered. He’s not exactly used to people stripping in front of him.

“Oh!” Lalna says, “It is a bit cold.”

“Cold? It’s fucking freezing-”

Xephos laughs, sitting back down to soak a bit more, toes curled into the sand beneath him and arms wrapped around his knees.

\- X -

“Maybe we could just use this,” Xephos says. His nose wrinkles at the smell, even as he fans himself with his hand.

It’s hot in the desert- of course it would be. He just wasn’t quite prepared for the heat to immediately assault him. It’s been some time since he has last stepped foot into a desert, so he thinks he’s allowed to struggle with the heat.

Sjin comes closer, peering into the pool of black liquid. “On no, this is just a pool.” he says, turning to Xephos. “You’ll literally just get five or six- whoa!” Sjin slips, falling back. His arms windmill as he tries to find his balance back, but it’s difficult with the sand.

“Sjin!” Xephos reaches out to grab the other man, but Sjin falls into the pool of oil before he can. Xephos steps forward, careful to keep his footing in the sand, to see where Sjin had fallen. The pool only ripples, devoid of any life.

“Sjin?” Xephos calls, crouching down. “Sjin, are you alright?”

There’s silence, then something bursts out of the oil, surprising Xephos enough that he falls back, scrambling away quickly on his hands and feet, ignoring the feeling of hot sand burning his skin.

“Help!” Xephos stops, staying completely still for a second, before peering at the black blob that is trying to stay afloat. “Help!”

“Sjin!” Xephos yelps, reaching forward. He grabs a flailing hand, making a face at the oil that gets smeared onto his hands and cuffs, but grips Sjin’s hand tightly. He pulls, cursing when Sjin’s hand slips out of his grasp.

He grabs again, kneeling by the oil. He pulls Sjin closer, slower this time, and when Sjin’s close enough he grabs at Sjin’s clothes, pulling the man back onto land with a yell.

Back safely on land, they both lay there for a moment, winded.

Suddenly, Xephos laughs, loud and genuine. Sjin joins in a moment later.

They end up grabbing a few cacti before running back to the factory to wash up the oil and sand.


End file.
